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65 of 76 persons found the following review helpful.
Kratman improves as Ringo’s Posleen series gets darker
By Walt Boyes
Tom Kratman’s firstborn book, A State of Disobedience was good but filled with basi novel issues. Some of his characters weren’t fleshed out, and galore were purposely cardboard. It was a didactic novel in the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein, but Kratman did not have the technical accomplishments to fetch it off at the level that the Master could.
Now, with John Ringo (it appears that Kratman did most of the writing), he has written a mature second novel, Watch on the Rhine.
His characters are excellently well drawn, and his writing style has matured substantially since his primary book. He likewise stays unblinkingly real in his portrayal of persons in desperate straits.
His Greens and Watermelons are so bad that I kept asking myself, would they in truth do that? And I held sinking back into the novel when my answer came back to me as “yes.” And finally, his Posleen appear as more than evil BEMs…they have feelings, a culture, and are ‘people’ too.
I was very put off by the idea of resurrecting “Nazi Supermen” to fight the Posleen. Kratman and Ringo rang a great deal of surprising changes on the theme, with sufficient skill and daring to make you in truth think over what the Waffen SS genuinely was, and if they were tarred with the Nazi brush more or less mistakenly…and then they hit you in the face because even good people may fight for evil causes. When asked, one of the characters replies, “Oh, yes, there is one real Nazi here, and we all hate him, but he is a actually good tank driver.” Sometimes needs must, when the devil drives.
—–WARNING! SNERK ALERT!—-
One subplot that just sticks with me, and is pivotal in the plot of the novel, is the death of Gudrun and in particular the last scene in which we see her head. Kratman’s writing is uncompromising and even though the scene bears all the hallmarks of the grotesque, it forces the reader to care when it comes to not only the humans, but in a strange sort of way, for the Posleen too. They are, after all, victims of the Aldenata and the Darhel, too.
Kratman (and Ringo, who will have to be an magnificent teacher) have scored huge this time.
Walt Boyes
The Bananaslug. at Baen’s Bar
44 of 53 humans found the following review helpful.
Four Stars
By Amerigo Vespucci
Watch on the Rhine is an magnificent book for both veterans of the Posleen series as well as new readers. Far more graphic and dark than Ringo’s four original books, and far more battle-intensive than Julie Cochrane’s “Cally’s War,” Watch on the Rhine covers the German response to the evil alien invasion of the Posleen.
The story centers on the reconstitution of the SS after the events in Ringo’s “Gust Front.” Prompted by the destruction of Fredericksburg and the devastation of Washington, D.C. the German chancellor realizes that no measure is too outstanding to defend versus the aliens. Kratman writes from a standpoint that may be too right-leaning for a good deal of readers, but his treatment of the SS is very even-handed, and and the more prominent story is executed rather well. The story is more or less light on reputation development, and moves too speedily at times, attempting to cover too much, but the story unquestionably comes together at the end, with the characters getting more rounded as the book allows reputation details to come through. Kratman isn’t affrighted to kill off characters, and in this story, it aids the story.
Overall, an magnificent story, with elements thrown in to delight long time followers of the Posleen series. Although rough in places at the beginning, the story comes together at the end, and is well worth the read.
15 of 18 humans found the following review helpful.
Hard soldiers fighting the inconceivable war
By Magna Storm
If you haven’t read John Ringo’s A Hymn Before Battle and Gust Front, they set the background for the war in Watch On The Rhine. Reading the 3rd and 4th Ringo books in the Posleen war series aren’t as necessary. In summary there’s various waves of evil alien invasion coming, and galore warning and engineering science from a good deal of supposedly friendly aliens is the only aid we’ll get.
In WOTR, the German Chancellor views the aftermath of the bloody battles in Northern Virginia described in Gust Front. Realizing the brutal nature of the approaching invasion, he decides with the reluctant help of his government to use alien rejuvenation engineering science applied to recreate an SS combat unit. In this war no negotiation is possible and each tool available must be used.
The story centers on a super-tank crew of 2 rejuvenated WW2 veterans and various young recruits. The tank commander names the Tiger III after his long dead Jewish wife. Several flashbacks occur allround the book detailing his past history of WW2 combat, survival, love shared with a Jewish woman, and witnessing deathcamp horror. The story progresses through their training, friction with civilians violently opposed to a reinstated SS unit, and brutal combat with the aliens.
This isn’t a Walt Disney portrayal of good vs evil. This is more of a “use one evil to fight another evil”. There are no magic pills or roads to military victory: their battlefield successes are the result of harsh, realistic training, close comradeship, cunning tactics, and careful weapon design influenced by early combat experience versus the aliens. Unlike Disneyish entertainment, the SS veterans relish combat. They pass on their distinctive trade attainments to their new recruits like parent wolves training their cubs. Similarly, they have no goodnatured tolerance or compassionateness for soldiers or civilians who flee their responsibility or get in their way. Their ruthlessness will become necessary versus the alien Posleen invaders who disclose a shocking new battlefield tactic.
The exploration into both WW2 history and German language and culture is impressive. You may without apparent effort visualize the scarred veterans leading their recruits in verboten Third Reich marching songs and flaunting their black uniforms. At the same time the writers commune well the pride of these soldiers in themselves and their brothers-in-arms.
The story centers to a great extent on the super-tanks produced for fighting the Aliens. If you liked reading Keith Laumer’s Bolo books or Hammers Slammers by David Drake, you’ll love this story.
If you like military science fiction, written with a hard edge of reality of a desperate circumstance with characters both young/rejuvenated/old you may discern with, this is a very good read.
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